Coach Dambrot needs to coach

[RooYahoo]

Dambrot needs to learn how to use a 6'11" transfer from WVU. This kid is being scouted by NBA teams and is not being used in this offense. Watch this kid seal his player every game. He needs more touches. The tapes and the scouts don't lie. There are not too many 6'11" kids in the country with this kind of footwork and potential. What a waste!

[UAZip0510]

Dambrot needs to learn how to use a 6'11" transfer from WVU. This kid is being scouted by NBA teams and is not being used in this offense. Watch this kid seal his player every game. He needs more touches. The tapes and the scouts don't lie. There are not too many 6'11" kids in the country with this kind of footwork and potential. What a waste!

I like Pat, but really? What NBA teams are scouting Pat as a junior?

[Dave in Green]

It's always good to have another family member/close friend of a Zips player on the forums. Welcome to ZN.o.

[LZIp]

I think I'm more critical of Dambrot than most others on this board, and even I dont see how it is his fault Pat has been underwhelming in his time here.

[skip-zip]

It's always good to have another family member/close friend of a Zips player on the forums. Welcome to ZN.o.

LOL...that's exactly what I was thinking.

[1981 grad]

When Pat first starting playing with Akron he was very aggressive offensively and had a great drop step move. The refs then started calling him for traveling and the aggressiveness stopped. He was more hesitant when he got the ball.

With Tree gone I think Pat will get a lot more touches. When he makes quick decisions he seems to score. When he holds onto the ball for a long time is when he gets into trouble. He also needs to get better hands since I have seen him drop a lot of passes through the years. Although he fouled out last game, a couple of the calls were terrible.

Pat will need to step up as will all of the other players if we are to have a winning season.

[skip-zip]

When Pat first starting playing with Akron he was very aggressive offensively and had a great drop step move. The refs then started calling him for traveling and the aggressiveness stopped. He was more hesitant when he got the ball.

With Tree gone I think Pat will get a lot more touches. When he makes quick decisions he seems to score. When he holds onto the ball for a long time is when he gets into trouble. He also needs to get better hands since I have seen him drop a lot of passes through the years. Although he fouled out last game, a couple of the calls were terrible.

Pat will need to step up as will all of the other players if we are to have a winning season.

I would start by just hoping that at 6'-11" tall, he eventually takes a more aggressive stand on the defense end besides standing flat footed with his arms extended in the air when someone is about to score on him.

[RooYahoo]

There are not too many 6'11" kids in the country with his agility. Hence, NBA scouts. Wrong system. Would flourish with a post oriented coach. I just know basketball and actually talked to scouts at last year's MAC tournament. They were there scouting two people, Forsythe and Whittington.

[ZippyRulz]

More like Coach Dambrot needs to parent. With the incidents piling up, there will be repercussions to him at some point.

[skip-zip]

More like Coach Dambrot needs to parent. With the incidents piling up, there will be repercussions to him at some point.

I'm sure he needs to account for the return on the scholarships that he is handing out. That matters to me too. But, why is this any different than all of the other D-1 schools in the country who go out on a limb a bit for some guys who can help the program win more? And I think his risk taking has been minimal. I believe he's only given scholarships to two non-qualifiers in 11 seasons? Come on.

If he was handling the situations differently, I would be concerned. In my view, he's been consistently swift and decisive, and certainly hasn't shown that he would hesitate to penalize a high-level contributor over a low level contributor.

And beyond basketball, I feel that in all of these cases, he's given great effort to be a positive influence on some of these guys lives, off the court. Maybe the best influence some of them have had in their lives.

[ZippyRulz]

It's negative publicity, nonetheless, which reflects on the university. KD has a boss who also has a boss who also has bosses and I'll just bet there are some discussions going on between them as to certain allowable limits and expectations going forward.

[UAZip0510]

It's negative publicity, nonetheless, which reflects on the university. KD has a boss who also has a boss who also has bosses and I'll just bet there are some discussions going on between them as to certain allowable limits and expectations going forward.

I think you've already seen a shift in recruiting. KD isn't going anywhere unless he decides to.

[Dave in Green]

There are not too many 6'11" kids in the country with his agility. Hence, NBA scouts. Wrong system. Would flourish with a post oriented coach. I just know basketball and actually talked to scouts at last year's MAC tournament. They were there scouting two people, Forsythe and Whittington.

Great. We need more people on this forum who really know basketball. I welcome any insight you can add to this forum.

I agree with you that Pat has good agility for a 6-11 player, and I've said so on this forum in the past. He proved this in his senior year of HS when he went from an unknown backup to an all-star who received offers from several high majors and was signed by West Virginia. He had a 2011 RSCI ranking out of HS of #137 in the country, just behind #133 Spencer Dinwiddie who is already playing in the NBA after a short college career. NBA scouts do pay attention to 6-11 players who are ranked among the top centers in the country out of HS.

Pat had a choice of where to go when he elected to leave WVU and Coach Huggins to be closer to his legally blind father in NEO. Certainly he must have done his homework and had good reason for selecting UA and Coach Dambrot over other options in this general area. For example, he could have chosen to go to Cleveland State and be coached by Gary Waters.

One of our regular forum members had a chance to ask Coach Huggins how he thought Pat would do at UA. Coach Huggins responded that he thought Pat would "do OK," but didn't think he would do great because he was unimpressed with Pat's work ethic. So when trying to blame Coach Dambrot for Pat's lack of development, it should be kept in mind that coaches can't develop players who don't put in the extra work necessary to develop their games from OK to great.

[morris buttermaker]

There are not too many 6'11" kids in the country with his agility. Hence, NBA scouts. Wrong system. Would flourish with a post oriented coach. I just know basketball and actually talked to scouts at last year's MAC tournament. They were there scouting two people, Forsythe and Whittington.

The 6-11 guys with his agility have jobs and do not play basketball in the NBA

[ziptrumpet87]

Perhaps he (and Embick) can get some data-driven help from Disney.

[Zip_ME87]

I like KD, too, but I can't understand the defensiveness that some of you constantly seem to exhibit. Regardles of who RooYahoo is, I get his point.

• I was disappointed in the apparent lack of development of our 7-foot center whom we had all hoped would get an opportunity in the NBA. I think the Zips program let Zeke down, not working more closely with him to strengthen him for a potential NBA career. Maybe some of you did, but I didn't really see the progression. It would have benefitted the Zips as well. I can't help but wonder if his development would have been different if Jeff Boals hadn't left.
• KD said at the EOY banquet last year something to the effect that he wasn't disapponted or some such thing about how the season ended. With the distractions and illnesses, perhaps the Zips had no chance in the Palace, but it didn't appear they had developed any plan whatsoever to deal with the full-court press. It looked like they were just going to play their game with no apparent adjustment for an opponent that we supposedly knew. I wish KD would have said that the distractions were an issue, taken responsibility, and apologized to the fans for what happened. He is the HC, and carries the responsibility.

I have other examples, but I don't want this to be a "bitch fest". As I said, I like KD, too, but I think he has become too comfortable. He needs to take a critical look at his program, including himself. It's a cop out to blame all of the program's shortcomings on the shortcomings of players.

[Sportsjunkie330]

I like KD, too, but I can't understand the defensiveness that some of you constantly seem to exhibit. Regardles of who RooYahoo is, I get his point.

• I was disappointed in the apparent lack of development of our 7-foot center whom we had all hoped would get an opportunity in the NBA. I think the Zips program let Zeke down, not working more closely with him to strengthen him for a potential NBA career. Maybe some of you did, but I didn't really see the progression. It would have benefitted the Zips as well. I can't help but wonder if his development would have been different if Jeff Boals hadn't left.

Trust me, if Zeke Marshall was NBA talent, he wouldn't have been at Akron.

Some people in these forums tend to overrate some talent on this team. The Akron Zips do NOT have any potential NBA players on their roster....and haven't for quite a few years. Zeke was the closest to that and he can't break in to the NBA.

Let's not turn this in to a KD bitchfest because they lost a couple of games. KD does a good job with what he has and what he has is a roster full of MAC players and MAC players are players that can't play for the bigger schools. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that in any way, I'm just saying that this is not a KD coaching problem.

[Zip_ME87]

Trust me, if Zeke Marshall was NBA talent, he wouldn't have been at Akron.

Some people in these forums tend to overrate some talent on this team. The Akron Zips do NOT have any potential NBA players on their roster....and haven't for quite a few years. Zeke was the closest to that and he can't break in to the NBA.

Let's not turn this in to a KD bitchfest because they lost a couple of games. KD does a good job with what he has and what he has is a roster full of MAC players and MAC players are players that can't play for the bigger schools. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that in any way, I'm just saying that this is not a KD coaching problem.

My point about Zeke was that I didn't see any real progression that I think a D1 program should provide. Whether or not he ever would get into the NBA was kind of beside the point, which is why I used the words "opportunity" and "potential". Like some have pointed out that strength and conditioning were lacking in the football program prior to Terry Bowden, I think the Zips Mens Basketball also has similar issues.

[skip-zip]

Trust me, if Zeke Marshall was NBA talent, he wouldn't have been at Akron.

That's not true. Plenty of MAC players develop into NBA talent.

Zeke got better during the time he was here, but it was very obvious to me early on that he was not going to get to that point. He was good for a MAC player, and maybe could have played in a lot of more highly regarded leagues. But, he never had an NBA skill set or determination, in my view.

Like you said, Keith does a great job with what he has to work with. And Zeke was what he was, and they made the most of that and made him effective for us against MAC competition. Unfortunately, that was as far as that was going to go. The NBA takes big-time chances of lots of guys his size. The fact that he never even got one of those plentiful breaks should tell the entire story about how he was viewed by the NBA teams.

[Zip_ME87]

That's not true. Plenty of MAC players develop into NBA talent.

Zeke got better during the time he was here, but it was very obvious to me early on that he was not going to get to that point. He was good for a MAC player, and maybe could have played in a lot of more highly regarded leagues. But, he never had an NBA skill set or determination, in my view.

Like you said, Keith does a great job with what he has to work with. And Zeke was what he was, and they made the most of that and made him effective for us against MAC competition. Unfortunately, that was as far as that was going to go. The NBA takes big-time chances of lots of guys his size. The fact that he never even got one of those plentiful breaks should tell the entire story about how he was viewed by the NBA teams.

KD does a good job with what he has and what he has is a roster full of MAC players and MAC players are players that can't play for the bigger schools. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that in any way, I'm just saying that this is not a KD coaching problem.

1. Who gets KD "what he has"? ... As Head Coach, KD has overall responsibility for recruiting

2. MAC players ... some do get to the NBA, as skip-zip stated. Also, Can't got to the Elite 8 with MAC players; OU got to the Sweet 16 with MAC players. ... Let's not expect more out of "comfortable" KD; we can then forever expect our current attendance and to play in our dump of an arena and a mostly crap OoC schedule

3. Perhaps Zeke never had the determination to get to the NBA. That may have been the issue, but did anyone in the Zips program have a discussion with him and his family on what effort that would really entail? As far as skill set, if he truly had the determination, he might have been able to develop it if the Zips program had the right assistance to offer.

[Zip_ME87]

If I read some of you correctly, KD is not responsible for Zips Mens Basketball even though he's the Head Coach. It's the MAC. It's the players he's stuck with. It's the JAR. (I'll give you that.) It's "Joe Akron". It's the students. It's our location. It's x. It's y. It's z. But, it's not KD. Seriously?

Ken Lolla, Zips Mens Soccer Coach for how many years (11?) ... It cannot be done at Akron... went to Louisville because the grass appeared greener (although much of it is blue). It has yet to be done by UL Head Coach Ken Lolla even though it was done by Akron led by Head Coach Caleb Porter. I know..."It's soccer. That's different."...BS Ask Coach Embick how difficult it is, even in soccer.

I'll say it again, I like KD, but he needs to look critically at himself and his program.

[The Hip Zip]

The day that Jeff Boals bolted our program suffered a huge loss. In particular, the development of our big guys.

[Sergeant Zip]

From 12/12/14, Dambrot talks Miami, Noah, defense, Kwan, goals, lineups, MACtion, and spoiled staff and fans with Sam Bourquin.

[ZIPSMOM2]

This is my own opinion and I do agree that some of the responsibility falls on the coaches and I do feel Coach KD takes responsibility when needed. But it also depends on the player and if that player has what it takes to get to that next level. A coach can take a player as far as a player will allow himself to go. With that said players have to be willing to put in the time and I feel that this year despite all that has happen that we have a group of young players that are willing to do whatever they need to do. Yeah... we are going to have some ups and downs and struggle at times. This is a team that will be good once they get through some of the hiccups. These players are coach-able and they want to win. Everyone has seen what they can do...hopefully by MAC conference play they will be ready to do what they need to do get to the BIG dance.

I know that my son still has a lot to learn but what I've seen so far I know he will do whatever it takes to help himself and the team win games. Also, I really don't care what school you go to if you are good they will come calling. Coach KD has built a great program with a great fan base. I'm so thankful that Kwan chose to come here. On a side note his sister was just accepted to Akron a few days ago and we are very excited about her attending school with her big brother. GO ZIPS!!!! We are happy to be apart a GREAT PROGRAM

[The Hip Zip]

Great post Zips Mom. We are very happy to have him. Kwan has made great progress so far and I look forward to watching him the next couple of years. He's going to be a really good one for the Zips.